Thomas Hart Benton

Our new mural, titled Agriculture -
Interpreting Thomas Hart Benton, is based on a piece by Thomas Hart Benton, which you see
at right (click on image for a zoom of it). Our mural's dimensions are 92" by 122". The medium
is acrylic on newspaper and cereal boxes. We completed it in June, 2005.
News articles referencing this work can be found here and
here
and here.

SAD UPDATE: This mural was destroyed by fire on Sunday, February 12th, 2006. Vandals set fire to the mural, and the other mural showing in the same area (Town & Country) had to be taken down from fears by mall management about a recurrence. This probably ends the Fetterly Gallery being a venue for these works. News article here.

by Thomas Hart Benton

Benton, Thomas Hart, 1889–1975, American regionalist painter, b. Neosho, Mo.; grandnephew of Sen. Thomas Hart Benton and son of Congressman Maecenas E. Benton. In 1906 and 1907 he attended the Art Institute of Chicago and at 19 went to Paris, where he remained five years. On his return to the United States, he designed movie sets, managed an art gallery, and continued to paint. The best-known American muralist of the 1930s and early 40s, he executed murals for the New School of Social Research (later sold) and the Whitney Museum, both in New York City; the Missouri statehouse, Jefferson City, Mo.; and the Postal Service and Dept. of Justice buildings, Washington, D.C. He is noted for his dramatization of American themes. His style is graphic, strong in color, repetitious and insistent in the use of rhythmic line. A 1943 painting, "July Hay," hangs in the Metropolitan Museum. Benton taught painting at several colleges and art schools, but most notably was Jackson Pollock's teacher before Pollock made it big.

Here's Trevor and Pete standing next to
their mural, giving the true size of it at a glance. The mural is located roughly opposite
the entrance to the Fetterly Gallery. This same space is used repeatedly by the artists, as vandalism guarantees that not much time will pass before a work is ready to
be replaced. This fact does not bother Pete and Trevor that much, since the idea of
the inherent transience of all things has been a key element in the style they
employ on these works on newspaper.